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Screen Gems, the production company responsible for “Proud Mary,” was gracious enough to make their product nearly impossible to view before my deadline so that I could complete my project on time. In this genre, critics’ screenings are rarely held, which is understandable, but nowadays almost every film has night screenings, which is also understandable. Despite the fact that Manhattan is home to hundreds upon hundreds of movie screens, not a single one of them was showing “Proud Mary” on Thursday. “The Snowman,” which is approximately 50 times worse than this film, not only gave us all the clues, but it also gave us early screenings in every single theater that showed the film on its opening day, which I believe had nothing to do with quality.
Screen Gems, on the other hand, planned to put me to the test for this review, sending me on an Odyssey that would rival Homer’s epic poem. A two-hour commute to a movie theater in Jamaica, Queens, was all it took for the hero of this remake—call let’s him Odieseus—to finally find his way to his Ithaca. And, to be completely honest, professionalism had absolutely nothing to do with it; I just really, really wanted to see this movie. Since seeing the excellent trailer, which performed admirably every time I saw it in theaters, I’ve been eagerly anticipating Taraji P. Henson’s adaptation of John Cassavetes’ “Gloria.” “Proud Mary” is a film starring an Academy Award-nominated actress whose previous film, “Hidden Figures,” grossed an unfathomably large sum of money at the box office. Despite this, Screen Gems attempted to conceal the film from critics as if it were a drunken frat boy attempting to crash a posh black-tie event.
“Proud Mary” is not deserving of the lack of confidence in it that its studio has in it. In fact, it’s almost good, and it’s so close to being successful that its flaws are truly irritating. Each and every one of these flaws is hidden behind the camera, beginning with the dreadful cinematography by Dan Laustsen. Since 1984, I haven’t seen a film that was as obsessed with the light coming through venetian blinds as this one. The light is so distracting that it completely obscures Danny Glover’s entire face during one of his most memorable performances. I’ve read a lot about Hollywood’s inability to properly light Black skin, but considering that Laustsen also shot “Mimic” and “The Shape of Water,” I have to conclude that his lighting choices in this film are misguided stylistic choices.
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It is also difficult to watch due to the editing, which ends action scenes (and even dramatic ones) far too soon, often by several beats. The cadences are distracting and hurried; on numerous occasions, the acting or the action was so engrossing that I wished I could have spent more time in the scenes themselves. Even though screenwriters Steve Antin, John Stuart Newman, and Christian Swegal inject more drama than one might expect from a typical action film, their efforts are undermined by the film’s shaky direction and production design. Although director Babak Najafi manages to correct the pacing problem during the admittedly excellent action sequence at the end of the film, it is far too little, far too late.
Proud Mary Quiz
When “Proud Mary” falters, the film is picked up and carried on the shoulders of Henson’s exceptional talent, as if she were a wounded comrade. It’s a pure joy to just sit back and watch her move from scene to scene. In Henson’s work as an actress, her performances are manifested throughout her entire body. The actress portrays a tough hitwoman who develops an unexpected maternal instinct, which comes with a heaping helping of guilt. These conflicting emotions seem to be emanating from her very being. Watch how she temporarily loses her cool in the arms of a former lover before regaining her composure, or how she maintains her composure when she instructs her orphaned young ward Danny (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) on what to do in the event of her demise. Or how she nonchalantly blows people away with the coolness of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone, to name a few examples. Her arguments with Danny are also delivered with expert comic timing, and she’s smart enough to know when to step back and let Winston steal the show. One gets the impression that this was a passion project for her because she is completely dedicated to it, even when the film disappoints her.
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“Proud Mary” also features strong performances from Billy Brown, who portrays the aforementioned love interest, and Danny Glover, whose Godfather-like character marks his return to the role of a bad guy. The most compelling scenes in “Proud Mary” are those in which the film delves into the complicated emotional contracts that exist between its characters. Much of Mary’s story revolves around her attempts to conceal betrayals from the people she cares about, particularly when it comes to her relationship with Danny. When we first see Mary perform, she is singing Danny’s father’s song, and her guilt over leaving him without a father weighs on her conscience almost as much as her fear that Danny will figure out how she is connected to him. When Benny tells Danny the truth about Mary, Glover delivers a superb performance, evoking a more endearing Bill Sykes from the classic film Oliver Twist.
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“Proud Mary” has so much going for it that one wishes for a remake in the vein of “All the Money in the World”: Consider replacing the cinematographer with Ernest Dickerson, and the editor with a couple of the folks from the film “Baby Driver.” Unfortunately, that future will not come to pass. Despite the fact that I am not a fan of Ms. Henson, please do not let this deter you from seeing it if you are one of her fans. If you make it a hit, who knows, maybe Screen Gems will do its damn job the next time around.Also, you must try to play this Proud Mary quiz.
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